To The Max
by bleeb
Summary: New mutant is in Bayville High. He's conflicted. Has crappy powers. Not much of a story here. My first fanfic. Hope I'll get better as I go along. Please help me. Negative criticism are highly appreciated. R&R. Rogue pairing.
1. Default Chapter

Chapter 1. Discovery 

"Ugh!" Kitty Pryde muttered as her locker stuck again, for the fifth time. It seemed to have a hex on it. Every time she tried to open it, the lock wouldn't budge. This was the fifth time today and it was really beginning to get her down.

"Need some help?" Lance Alvers seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"Yeah, please. This is, like, the fifth time." Kitty moaned to her boyfriend.

Lance placed his right hand on the locker and closed his eyes. Kitty waited for the inevitable shaking of the ground and almost all of the lockers falling open. To her surprise, that didn't happen. With his eyes closed, Lance had a look of extreme concentration on his face. Kitty looked on as only the floor beneath her locker vibrated a little and then the door popped open.

He's really getting control, Kitty thought to herself. This is the first time he hasn't demolished anything.

"There. Now what else can I do for you?" Lance said cheerfully and turned towards Kitty. There were a few beads of sweat on his forehead but besides that he seemed fine. Kitty couldn't tell but it had taken Lance almost all of his self-control to perform that simple action. He had tried and tried and finally it had paid off. He wanted to show Kitty that he wasn't all about destroying stuff. Recently he had gained a lot of control over his powers.

"Um…nothing right now but you can, like, walk me to class," Kitty said as she got her Biology book and slammed the door shut.

Lance took her left hand in his right and they both walked down the hallway, hand in hand. He walked her till the door and then kissed her cheek lightly. It had taken him ages to get till the casual kiss stage. There had been a lot of trouble and most of it was due to those X-geeks. He had a free period so he took his time walking to the field. There was football practice going on and Lance quickly ducked beneath the bleachers before anyone from the team saw him. Those jocks didn't like Lance and Lance didn't like them. He wasn't afraid or anything but he didn't want to get into trouble. That would just give the X-men another reason to convince Kitty to stay away from him. And he didn't want that.

Max was already there, smoking. He was wearing a pair of tattered jeans, Converse sneakers and a green T-shirt. He had long hair that came down to his neck, which he never combed and looked like, never washed too. He took one look at Lance and turned back to watching the cheerleaders practice. Max was one of the few people that Lance hung out with. Besides his Brotherhood mutant pals, he didn't really have a friend. Max wasn't a mutant but he and Lance got along. They usually hung out beneath the bleachers, smoking, talking about stuff or just listening to music. Max had this Sony Walkman with huge headphones and they both took turns listening while the other smoked. This time, Lance picked up the headphones and put them on. He rotated through the songs till he came to one he liked, "Trigger" by In Flames.

He was soon lost in the tunes and didn't hear Todd Tolansky, better known as Toad, appear. Todd grabbed the headphones and put them on. Lance was jerked out his semi-comatose stupor, irritated and angry.

"Toad! Give 'em back or you'll suffer." He said threateningly. Of all the mutants, he couldn't stand Toad. Toad was smelly and irritating. Lance had zero tolerance for him.

Toad ignored him and continued to listen. He didn't hear Max approach and grab the headphones as rudely as he had done before.

"That was rude!" Toad said indignantly, flicking his tongue over his face.

"Get away, Toad. I don't want you stinking up my phones," Max said tiredly. He shared Lance's dislike for Toad but his wasn't as passionate. In truth, he found Toad to be quite amusing. There always was something weird about him. He was always crouching and flicking his extra-long tongue. He had even seen Toad eat a few flies. Toad wasn't just a nickname, it was him.

"Hey Lance, you see that chick over there?" He said suddenly, pointing. Lance came over and followed the direction of his finger.

"Who?" He said. "Kitty?" Max was pointing at a group of the X-men. Kurt Wagner, Kitty, Rogue, Rahne and Bobby were sitting on the bleacher opposite them.

"Which one?"

"I know Kitty shithead. I mean the goth."

"The goth? Oh, that's Rogue? You like her or something?"

It was quite some time before Max replied. He was staring at Rogue. She seemed so apart, so disconnected from it all. The other geeks were laughing and fooling but Rogue only gave a wry smile or two. As he looked on, he couldn't help feeling that she didn't belong there.

"No, man. I don't like her or anything. She just looks as if she might be cool."

"I donno 'bout that, dude. She hangs with the rest of those shits. They're probably an influence on her. They almost convinced Kitty not to go out with me. These X…" He had almost said the X-men. That would've brought out some questions but Max wasn't listening. He was still concentrated on Rogue.

"Well, well, what do we have here? The freak convention?" Max and Lance turned to find half the football team crowding in.

"Ulp," Toad gulped and hid behind Lance. Toad was a frequent victim of their attacks. Often times, three or four of them would jump him and throw him into the dumpster, or into the toilet, or rub chalk all over his face and clothes. The list was endless.

"You wouldn't happen to be looking at those cheerleaders, would you?" The quarterback, a big broad-shouldered guy named Whitney advanced.

"C'mon, man. Let's get out of here," Lance said and grabbed Max by the arm. He didn't want to fight. He knew that he could probably beat them easily but he had already gotten two warnings and this one would be his last. He'd be expelled, not to mention Kitty would probably dump him.

"No, man. I'm tired of their shit. I'm not taking it anymore." Max wouldn't budge. Lance pulled with all his strength but Max wouldn't budge one bit. Lance was a pretty strong guy and he was surprised. Max was thin and looked weak. Lance had deduced that smoking had probably sapped him of his strength.

"You're tired of out shit? Oh man, that was so wrong, freak." Whitney and his thugs began to advance on them. Max wouldn't move. He just stayed in one place, showing no emotion.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Lance breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his fellow Brotherhood members, Pietro Maximoff and Freddy Dukes appear. Pietro was talking in his usual motor-mouth style.

"You guys wouldn't be trying to gang up on our friends, would you?" The slower Fred followed Pietro. He was a huge guy, probably weighed close to two hundred pounds.

Whitney and his goons surveyed the new additions. One look at Fred and Whitney seemed to change his mind. He motioned to his cronies and they walked off without a word. Besides giving "you're dead" stares at Max, they did nothing else. Lance had never been more grateful for his friends. Well, maybe he had but at that moment, this seemed like it.

"What the hell man?" He turned angrily towards Max.

"We could've taken them. We could've shown them a thing or two. Then they would've left us alone." Max seemed to be in this far-off place. His eyes seemed to stare off into infinity and his hands were balled into fists.

"Listen man, ow!" Lance had put his hand on Max's shoulder and he had gotten a shock. There seemed to be a powerhouse of current in Max and Lance had just gotten electrocuted. As they looked on, Max's form began to glow with radiance. His skin turned dark red.

"He's a mutant." Toad, who had been surprisingly quiet all this time, said in a whisper.

"Max! Hey, Max. Snap out of it man." Lance shouted. He was afraid to touch him. Pietro sped near him and put his hand on Lance's shoulder. They continued watching and in a few seconds, Max seemed to come back to life. The balls of electricity disappeared and he dropped out of his daze.

"Hey man. I didn't know you were a mutant." Toad said, a little scared.

"Is that what I am? A mutant? Well, glad that's out of the way. I expect all this to be over the school by tomorrow. I'd rather not go through all that again. Well, it was nice hanging out with you Lance. I don't know who you two are but sorry if I caused any problems. Toad, I can honestly say that I won't miss you." Thus said, he hung his head, shoulders slumped and started to walk away. This time Lance didn't hesitate to hold him back.

"We're not gonna tell anyone. This has gotta be ironic. You're thinking a Brotherhood of Mutants would reveal to everyone that you were a mutant? Well, maybe we would, for our own purposes but we're not. You see, we're mutants too. All of us, even Toad. He's actually a Toad. So we're in the same boat." Pietro said. It took a while for Max to grasp the idea but as he understood, comprehension dawned on his face.

"So you're all mutants? How come I never see you guys use your powers?"

"I do. All the time. People just ignore me, usually," Toad quipped from behind Lance. He was back to his cocky self as he jumped about and sat down in front of Max.

It was quite some time later. All of them were sitting in the Brotherhood living room, talking about mutants. Lance was especially clear on how things stood between X-men and the Brotherhood. He told Max all about Professor Xavier and Magneto, the feud that had led to the disappearance of Mystique, her reappearance and subsequently, disappearance again. He gave Max the info on all the mutants, including their powers, codenames and real names. Lance liked Max. He had never even suspected that Max might have been a mutant. It seemed too surreal. But when he considered it, he hadn't really known Max that long. They had just met one day under the bleachers, had shared a smoke and become friends. That was almost three months ago. When he really thought about it, Max had just transferred from another school. There had always been rumors about him, rumors that he had been kicked out of his previous school for having some sort of disease. They had quickly died down but by then, Max had drawn into his solitary shell. People left him alone and it seemed that he enjoyed being alone. Well, he's one of us now, Lance thought to himself. Once and for all and all for once. At least those X-jerks didn't get him.

It turned out that Max had powers that complied with his name. Everything about him was in hyperdrive. His body was faster, stronger and more agile than any normal human being. He wasn't as fast as Pietro but he probably could've outrun Michael Jordan in the 100m dash. He was probably as strong as Blob. All the physical attributes of his body were to the max. Whenever he felt the need to use his powers, his body would turn a deep crimson, not unlike the colour Sunspot turned when he flared up. That was when his body would start to perform like a machine. He could bring on this stage voluntarily but sometimes it happened on the spur of the moment.

There had been quite some talk about Max moving in with the Brotherhood but it seemed like too much of a hassle. Max lived alone in a small apartment near the X-men mansion. His parents were fabulously rich but wanted nothing to do with their freak of a son. They sent him money now and then but that was it. Max liked it that way. He had found early on that parents didn't always love you the way you were.

Max left at around 7, his head swimming with all these new people, their names and their abilities. He had never even dreamed that there would be more people like him. He had always thought that he was a freak of nature, something that was abnormal and a curse. Now he had friends who were like him in so many ways. He had people whom he could talk to, people who actually knew what it was like to be different. He left the Brotherhood house that night, feeling like he belonged somewhere.

It wasn't long after Max left that Wanda came home. She had been out, no one knew where. She hadn't shown up at school. The rest of the mutants had decided that it would be Pietro who would tell Wanda about Max. He was her brother and she wouldn't hurt him that badly, even if she had one of her outbursts. The moment she entered the door, Pietro wasted no time in speeding up to her and talking in his usual non-stop manner. "Hey Wanda! Guess what? Never mind. Don't guess 'cause you won't know. We found a new mutant at school. You know that weird guy Lance hangs out with? Max, yeah, that's him. He's the mutant. He's got some weird power. It's quite cool actually. You should've seen him. It was kinda nice."

Wanda clapped a hand on Pietro's mouth. She put the index finger from her other hand to her lips and made a "be quiet" motion. Her eyes flipped to Lance, Toad and Fred sitting on the couch. All three of them shifted uneasily. Wanda was foul-tempered and extremely powerful. She could curse them just to get a few kicks and there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it. Wanda was the one ace card the Brotherhood had. She was more powerful any of the X-men. She could manipulate their powers into hurting their own members. Without her, they would lose.

"Max is a mutant?" She asked, her question directed at Lance.

"Um…yeah he is." Lance was the one who was least picked on by Wanda, the most being Toad.

"He on our side?" She asked again.

"I think so. I did a pretty good job of convincing him to join us. He won't go to the X-men. He doesn't belong there. He told me himself."

"That's good. I like him." That was her final comment. She turned and walked up the stairs to her room. All four of them sighed in relief as they heard the door to her room slam shut.

"Well, that went well. Wonder why we were so worried," Toad said.

"Do I have to remind you what she did when she found out Kitty and I were going out? She set my clothes on fire, you idiot. That was when she didn't have a problem with it," Lance snapped at Toad.

"Glad that's over. Now let's watch some TV." Pietro ran up, snatched the remote out of Fred's hands and flipped on the TV. The Brotherhood was content. Even Wanda, lying on her bed and just thinking, was pleased.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2. "Think About Me" 

Max woke up the next morning with a feeling of nausea in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't a physical feeling, more of a mental thing. He felt as if something bad would happen. He got dressed and made himself some food. His parents sent enough money for him to live quite peacefully. He didn't have to work and he never seemed to run out of cash. He didn't spend it a lot. All he needed money for was food and cigarettes. He had enough clothes and it wasn't as if he actually wore a new pair every day. Yeah, he thought, I've got it pretty good.

He got to school late and even later to class. He had stopped for a smoke along the way. He didn't hesitate to smoke at school. He had been given a few warnings by the teachers before but never serious ones. They pretty much left him alone.

Classes went by in a breeze. Max never paid much attention in class. Most would've expected him to be a lousy student but in contrast, he was quite a good student. He wasn't a genius or anything but he didn't really fail any subject. He emerged after classes were over and was immediately surrounded by Whitney and his friends. Max was bored. He had lost it earlier for no apparent reason but now he didn't give a shit either way. Whitney often made fun and ragged on him but that was it. He had never been beaten up or actually harassed in any way. This time, Whitney didn't speak. He just stared. Max knew trouble was coming. He didn't like to fight. If he did, he might lose control and use his powers. Whitney and two of his friends grabbed him by the arms and propelled him towards the toilet. He was roughly shoved into one of the cubicles and made to sit on the can.

"I've ignored you for too long, freak. I think it's time you learned some respect," Whitney said. Oh man, how cliched is this, Max was thinking to himself. I mean, you gotta see this in a million corny movies. One outcast is set upon by the jocks and beaten up. The outcast fights back and actually beats them and somehow ends up getting the girl.

Two people again grabbed both of his hands and Whitney took off his jacket and put on knuckles. Max knew what was coming. He didn't struggle. It was inevitable.

He closed his eyes as he felt the first blow. It caught him on the side of his face and he could almost hear his cheekbone crack. A kick in the gut and a punch right in the Adam's apple. Max could taste blood now and the blow to his throat caused him to choke. He began to regurgitate the blood. He saw a dark crimson liquid come flowing out of his mouth. It didn't even look like blood. The two holding on to his arms let go and he fell forward. His face collided with the cold bathroom floor. As he lay there, numerous blows to the abdomen, groin and gut followed. He didn't know how long it had been but in the end, he could take no more. He curled up and put his hands over his head. Whitney said something garbled and they retreated. Someone aimed a final, parting kick at his stomach and then all of them left.

Max was done. He had expected a beating but not one as bad as this. His face was a mess; his cheekbone seemed broken and there was something horribly wrong with his throat. A horrible sandpapery feeling. He was unable to move. As he lay in a pool of his own blood, he heard more people enter. He tried to get up but that action just caused convulsions again. He lay down and hoped he would die.

When Kurt Wagner entered the toilet, he was busy talking to Bobby about the latest installation of the computer game, Halo. He froze when he saw the spreading pool of blood and the body lying in it. Quick as a flash, he and Bobby were beside Max, turning him over and trying to talk to him.

"Hey. Vake up. Vat happened?" Kurt tried to shake him but was afraid that that might just dislodge something and cause more damage. "Bobby, get Scott, quick. He needs help. Ve need to get him to za hospital."

Bobby ran off in search of Scott. Max opened his eyes and stared into the face of the German boy. His eyes were bloodshot and his mouth was still leaking blood. He tried to speak but no words came, just blood bubbles.

Bobby returned with Scott and Jean, to whom it didn't matter that it was the boy's toilet.

"We need to get him medical help immediately. It looks as if he might choke on his blood. Jean, can you do anything?" Scott asked.

"I'll try." Jean closed her eyes and placed her hand on Max's forehead. Focusing on his throat she used her powers to stop the blood from flowing down Max's throat. Max vomited another splurge of blood but this one was followed by a long easy draw of breath.

"I don't think he can walk. We'll have to carry him." Scott cradled Max's head in his arms and caught his arms. Kurt and Bobby grabbed his legs and all of them trudged out. Jean looked around for anyone to call but the school was empty. Even the janitor was nowhere to be seen. It was after-school hours and the halls were deserted. It was lucky for Max that the X-men had stayed back to wait for her. She had some work left and was just finishing up when Bobby had come running up, out of breath and talking endlessly about an injured guy.

They carried Max to Scott's car. Scott drove as fast as he could towards the hospital. Max was conscious and could tell where they were taking him. He remembered his last visit to the hospital. The machines going bonkers and everything short-circuiting. That had been when he had broken an arm. His powers seemed to go haywire when he was injured and around machines. Almost as if he were radiating static electricity.

"Not the hospital." He managed to say. He mouth still tasted like blood and his face and throat hurt like hell but pain he could handle. "Take me home."

"You need medical help immediately. Don't argue," said Scott in his leader voice.

"No. You don't understand. I'm not normal. I'm like you." Even through the blood and all the pain he had recognised the X-men. Lance's description had come in handy and he had seen them around school before. "Look." He said and tried with all his might to make his skin change colour. His entire hand turned brick red but that was all he needed. Jean saw.

"Scott, he's a mutant. We need to get him to the professor. He'll know what to do. The hospital might complicate things." This was Jean talking. Scott listened to her. He swung the car around and headed for the mansion. That was all Max remembered because then he passed out.

Max woke up with his head reeling and throat feeling as if somebody had shoved a hot poker down it. "Oohh…," he murmured and put his hand on his head. His face was bandaged and so was his chest and abdomen. He was lying in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. The pain had subsided but there was still a dull throb. He was too tired to care where he was.

"Hey guys, he's, like, awake. Come see!" Kitty poked her head through the door that directly faced the bed and then called out. There was a general hubbub and the sound of people moving around. A bald guy in a wheelchair entered the room followed by a group of teenagers. That was the professor. Lance had told him that he could read minds. Max found this thought particularly unsettling.

"You don't have to be uncomfortable. You're among friends here." The professor spoke pleasantly and smiled a little. "Now would you like to tell us who did this?"

"I'd rather not." Max's throat was still sore and it hurt like hell when he spoke. He wasn't going to rat especially to these geeks. He would handle it by himself. He could take care of himself. Things had just gone too far. He wouldn't let that happen again.

"Oh? I think you know how easy it would be for me to just read your mind and find out but I'll let you take your own time to tell us. It's your choice. You're welcome to stay here as long as you want," saying so, the professor wheeled his wheelchair out of the room. He closed the door behind him and said, "I missed him. I never thought to look at Bayville High for a new mutant. I assumed that those there were already either with us or with the Brotherhood. Find out everything you can about him, Logan." The tall dark man standing in the shadows grunted and walked off.

"Hey, you're Lance's friend, aren't you?" Kitty asked. She came over and sat down on the far end of the bed. It took a while for the question to sink in.

"Yeah. You're Kitty, I know. He can't stop talking about you," Max said grabbing one side of his head. It still hurt.

"Really?" Kitty started to blush.

"If it's okay with you, I think I'll be going now. Will the person who removed my shirt please give it back?" Max threw back the covers and tried to get off the bed. The second his feet hit the floor, his head started to throb and the world started to revolve.

"Better lay back down. You're not ready to go home yet." Jean lay him back on the bed with a flip of her hand. It was pleasant feeling, being floated through the air and then lay down on a soft bed.

"You're with the Brotherhood?" This was Scott speaking, his voice gruff.

"With them? Yeah, I guess you could say that. I just met the rest of them yesterday. Not much of a member," It was easier to talk but it still hurt his throat.

"Great. Now we have an enemy in our midst. He'll probably go back and tell them all about us. That whole thing was probably just a sham to get inside. I don't trust him." Scott was voluble about his feelings and didn't care who heard it.

"Scott, it wasn't a sham. I treated those bruises and they were real," Jean said softly. She put her hand on Scott's shoulder and that seemed to calm him a little.

"So you're a mutant? How come ve never found out?" Kurt appeared now.

"Well, I just joined the school three months ago, what do you expect?" Max was getting the third degree and he wasn't enjoying it. He hadn't asked for their help. He didn't really like these people and he especially didn't like Scott. "Look, if you're going to ask me questions all day then I'd rather be going. I didn't ask you to help me and I don't want to be treated like some spy or something. Look, I don't know much about this thing you have between you and the Brotherhood and frankly, I don't give a shit. Just fuck off and leave me alone okay?"

(Students would you please leave out guest to rest and come see me in the study.) The professor's voice reverberated through everyone's head, even Max's. Slowly everyone emptied out of Max's room and left him alone. Shrugging to himself, Max lay back down and tried to go to sleep.

"So what do we know about Max?" The professor directed this question at Scott, Kurt, Jean and Bobby.

"Well, we know he's with the Brotherhood. So there's not telling to what he's capable of," Scott said stiffly.

"Now, now, Scott, don't jump to conclusions. Max is just confused. He's just not sure where to go." Charles Xavier said thoughtfully, putting his hands together. "Jean, what do you think?"

"Yeah, Max is confused. He's hung out with Lance ever since he joined the school. He naturally feels he'll belong with the Brotherhood but now he's confused as we helped him out when the Brotherhood was nowhere in sight. He'll fight us but I have a feeling he may join."

"Hmm…do you know what his powers are?"

"We did see him turn red. His entire arm actually turned completely red, you know, like the colour Sunspot turns. We don't really know what he can do."

"That isn't so encouraging." The professor turned away and stared out the big French windows in his study.

"Vy not just read his mind?" Kurt asked.

"I could do that but that would just violate his trust. We shouldn't give him any more reason to stay with the Brotherhood. They are harmless now that Magneto is gone but it would be better if we could acquire his powers, whatever they might be. Rogue, I want you to go talk to him. He might connect to you." Charles said to Rogue who was idling near the door, not really interested.

"What? Me?"

"Yes, you."

"Okay but what do I talk to him about?"

"Oh, anything. Just get him to trust us." With this cryptic message, Charles Xavier dismissed the students.

"Uh…can I come in?" Rogue poked her head in through the door to Max's room. Max was awake and was sitting up, looking at the ceiling.

"Yeah. Though I don't know why you'd want to do that." Max was still hostile. Rogue had intrigued him before but he didn't want to seem overeager to talk to her.

"Hi, I'm Rogue and you're Max. Okay now that we got the preliminaries out of the way, let's talk business, shall we?" Rogue said matter-of-factly and sat down on one of the chairs facing the bed.

"Business? What kind of business?" Max was taken aback by her attitude. She was very antagonistic.

"Look, you're with the Brotherhood and it's not sitting so well with the professor. He wants you to join us. I can't give you a valid reason to do that and it's all up to you but…"

"Hey hey, listen. Everyone comes and blabbers on about the Brotherhood and the X-men. What's the deal with that? Why are you so concerned with who joins what group? I don't give a shit. As long as I'm not discriminated against by everyone for being a mutant and then thrown out of here, I'm fine. I wouldn't care if either side won or lost. Read my lips, Rogue, I DON'T CARE." Max's fiery temper rose up and he shouted the last three words at her. He really was fed up. He just wanted to be accepted as he was and not be afraid to just exist but instead he had been dragged into this power tug between these two lame-ass groups. It had been better when no one had known that he was a mutant.

Rogue was shocked into silence. She hadn't expected his reaction. She had come in here just because the professor had told her to, not because she wanted to. She hadn't given a flying fuck about Max until now. His little tirade had her interested.

"Hold on. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so straight with all the mutant shit. Look, I feel the way you do. Believe me. I was in this same place. I was with the Brotherhood for a while. Didn't enjoy it that much. With the X-men, you get a family. All these other mutants aren't just faces, they're so much a part of my life now. Hey, you could go join the Army for all I cared but just think about it okay?"

Max was silent for a while. "What powers do you have?"

"Powers? Huh…that's a laugh. Mine's more of a curse than anything is. I can't touch. Literally. If I touch somebody, I instantly absorb his or her thoughts, powers and strength. If I held on for too long, I'd probably kill them."

"That must be tough. I'm sorry for being such a jerk to you. It's just that everything's happening so fast and on top of it all, these guys beat the shit out of me. I'm just not in a place where I can decide." Max could feel her bitterness. He didn't know if he could relate to her pain but he understood it.

"What powers do you have?" Rogue said softly.

"It's kind of hard to describe but I'll try. I can will my body to run faster, be stronger and more agile than any normal human can. When I do this, my entire body turns this crimson colour, blood like. I like to think of it as my mutant blood showing itself. You may not get it but I'll show you sometime."

Rogue acknowledged this with silence. She had never met anyone else who had put into words her own feelings about the two factions. She didn't care either. She liked the X-men but they could be too goal oriented and too goody-goody. Opposed to Kurt and Kitty, there was no one in the entire mansion that she could talk to. Kurt was her brother and it had taken him a long time to get over the fact that Rogue had killed Mystique, actually shattered her into pieces. It must've been hard to get used to the fact that your sister had killed your mother. Kitty was a little out-there but she was pretty cool underneath it all.

"You know something, Max, I think I like you," Rogue said suddenly. She didn't know why but she just did. Most people knew Rogue to be quiet, cynical and not all that open about her emotions. Most people included Rogue herself.

"I think you're not all that bad yourself, compared to the rest of these idiots here." Max said. For the first time today, a smile creased his face. Rogue liked the way his smile lit up his entire face. She found herself returning that smile. She stood up and walked towards the door. Slowly, she turned around and found Max staring at her. Rogue could feel a twinge of pleasure go through her system.

"Think about me." Another phrase that erupted from Rogue's mouth as mysteriously as the previous one had. She came out of the room before she could say anymore.

Max was pleased.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3. Reclaim my Place 

It was early next morning that Max left the X-men mansion. He left with a blank stare from Kurt, a longing look from Rogue, a letter for Lance from Kitty and a Foo Fighters CD from Rahne. Who would've thought that they actually listened to good music? Max thought that the day he had spent with the X-men hadn't been so bad. He had met Rogue, talked to her, gotten her to give him her number. He had met Kurt, who was an overly cool dude; Kitty, who was sweet, a little too girly, but also extremely nice; Rahne, a girl whom he could seriously consider having as a best friend, never mind the fact that she had sniffed him for five minutes before deciding to talk to him; Bobby, who was a little geeky but fun otherwise; Jean, who was probably one of the most beautiful people he had ever met. It had taken him just one day to find out that the X-men were not all that bad. He liked them. Most of them weren't his type of people but somehow that didn't matter.

Walking slowly, he headed towards the Brotherhood Boarding house. He opened the door and walked in to find Toad sitting on the couch, snapping at flies, Freddy, eating and Lance flipping through channels.

"Ehh…Max. Where you been dude?" Toad said without distracting himself from catching his dinner.

"With the X-men."

"What?" This time Lance took notice and even Pietro appeared out of nowhere. "What were you doing with them? And what happened to your face?"

"Whitney and his goons ambushed me. Did me up pretty well. X-men saved me. Where were all of you?" There was a lilt in Max's voice. He was taunting.

"Oh yeah, we heard about that." Toad again.

"Shut up Toad." Lance said in a low voice.

"You didn't care where I was?" Max asked.

"We didn't know where to ask or who to."

"So you just gave up? Nice way you look after your team members. Thanks Lance but no thanks. I'm not getting involved in all of this shit. No Brotherhood for me okay?"

"What's happening here?" Wanda came slowly down the stairs. Immediately, Lance and Pietro parted to let her through.

"He's leaving us for the X-men," Lance said to her.

"Oh he is, is he?" Wanda's eyes flashed a little and Lance and Pietro took an involuntary step back.

"No. I'm not joining the X-men. I'm not joining any team. I don't want to get involved in all this crap. You guys handle it. Don't drag me into it."

Wanda just stared at him. Her eyes still flashed but she made no move to hex him. She stared at Max and Max looked back. Suddenly, she brushed one gloved hand in Max's hair. "Cut your hair a bit short, you'll look better. And wash it." She turned and walked out the door. Pietro followed her out saying, "That's all? You're not gonna hex him or anything? What the hell's wrong with you?" Just as he said this, there was a painful yelp and Pietro came running back into the house. "She said to tell you to also not forget to shave."

"Thanks. Here this is for you." Max handed the note from Kitty to Lance and walked down the same way that Wanda had gone.

Max returned to his apartment. The usual Saturday envelope from his parents had arrived and so had the phone and electric bill. The first thing he did was, he went to the mirror and checked his hair. He took a comb and scissors and trimmed it the best as he could, front, sides and back. His front hair came upto his eyes but at his sides, the hair covered his hair. As he looked at his new style, he thought he looked pretty good despite looking simultaneously like a mushroom with black and blue bruises.

The next thing he did was, he went to the bathroom and shaved, leaving only a short stubble at his chin. He had begun to sprout a stupid moustache and beard after two weeks of not shaving. He then got into the shower and took a long hard shower. The hot water stung his bruises but he continued despite the pain.

The rest of the day he spent listening to the new Foo Fighters CD he had just acquired. That was the only Foo Fighters album he didn't have, The Colour and the Shape.

It was around 3 o'clock when he began to prepare.

Sunday came and went without incident. The X-men house progressed normally amid a few pranks, the usual punishments and the Danger Room sessions with Logan. The Brotherhood house was pretty much empty. Lance was out with Kitty. Pietro with some new girl he had met. Fred had gone to see a movie with Tabitha. No one knew what Toad was doing and no one cared. Wanda had disappeared again. Sunday was a big day for Max though. He took care of business.

Monday came and school began again. Kurt, Kitty, Lance, Rogue and Bobby were just sitting and talking, before classes began. Lance complained about the X-men and called them geeks but he did hang out with them a little. He had to. They were Kitty's friends and he wanted to get along with them, no matter how geeky. It was Kurt who first saw them and he let out a very German, "Vat is zat?" All of them turned and muttered their own analogies. It was a sight. Whitney and two of his regular cronies were wearing dark shades to cover the obvious bruises on their faces. Whitney walked with a pronounced limp. He had a neck brace and his face was very much swollen up. Three of his gang was missing and the other two were as bad as Whitney.

"Vat happened to you three?" Kurt asked innocently.

Whitney turned painfully and looked at Kurt. He looked from Kurt to Kitty to Lance. "Nothing. Car accident." He murmured and walked off.

"Max." Rogue said one word but that was all it took. All of them understood. Max had had his revenge. "It has to be him. They're the ones who always give everyone trouble. Anything to say, Alvers?"

"It was Whitney but not sure about Max. It seems unlike him. Speak of the devil," Lance said as Max showed up to school. "And the devil's had a haircut. Hmm…"

Max was smiling and he had every reason to. As Rogue looked at him, she felt a bout of infatuation strike at her. Max looked awesome. His long hair was still rough and uncombed but it was clean and shorter and looked good for a change. He was still dressed in the same jeans but a new striped T-shirt that suited him. Maybe it was just she, but he suddenly looked much more appealing.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Max seemed to have gone through a complete personality change. He never smiled before and he never said hello. Before, he just seemed to be sad and depressed but now he looked happy. Lance wondered if he was high.

"We just saw Whitney. Nice job," Lance complimented him.

"Nice job? I didn't do anything." A look of surprise came on his face. "Why would I?"

"You didn't…?" Now it was Kitty. Before she could say anything else, he had walked away.

"Yeah. It was him. No doubt about it now." Lance Alvers said as he looked after the retreating figure.

Before the end of the day, the school was rife with rumor. Everyone knew it; they heard it in whispers. No one knew exactly what had happened but the gist of it was that, Max had put a neck brace on Whitney and three of his friends in the hospital. Maybe even the teachers knew it but there was no proof. Max denied it. Whitney and his friends still claimed it was a car accident. No one budged. That day, there was a new respect for Max. Respect and fear.

Rogue was pleased. Finally someone who wasn't a wimp and who fought for his right. She didn't know why he hadn't fought back at first but he had taken care of it. Now whenever Whitney passed Max, he averted his eyes. Rogue liked that.

The rumors reached X-men mansion. The professor probably heard it off Scott who was lamenting about the risk of exposure that Max had put. He didn't like the sound of it. If mutants began to take matters into their own hands, there would be anarchy. That wasn't the way. He sent a message to Max telepathically and Max arrived within 10 minutes.

"Max. I have been hearing some disquieting rumors. Would you say that they are true?" Charles started off as Max took a seat facing him.

Max knew it was useless to lie. The professor would know. It was the pits talking to a telepath. "Yeah. It was me. I had to do something. I couldn't let them get away with it."

"Max, there are certain things you have to learn. You must have used your powers to do what you did. What if Whitney and his friends decide to say that a glowing red Max did that to them? They may not be believed by many but they have powerful fathers. A look into your past and you would be out of Bayville High. It was too much of a risk."

"But the thing is, they won't tell. Trust me, they won't."

Charles Xavier looked at him steadily. Max opened his mind, allowing Charles in, letting him see for himself. Understanding dawned on Charles's face. "Not the method I would've recommended but what's done is done. No more stunts like this."

"Professor, you forget something. I'm not one of your students. I do what I do. But you won't have to worry, it isn't ever going to happen again. And one more thing, how did you find out about my previous school. I thought my parents had taken care of that."

"You can thank me for that, bub." Max hadn't noticed Logan who was standing in one of the far corners, hidden in the shadows, almost invisible. Now he stepped out.

"Logan has a few contacts himself." Xavier smiled at him.

"You want to take a spin around the Danger Room?" Logan said gruffly.

Lance had told him all about the Danger Room and Max wanted no part of it. "Not really. Maybe some other time."

"That wasn't a question, bub." And with that, Max followed Logan to the Danger Room. Logan handed him an X-men uniform but Max refused. "No. I'm not an X-man. I'll do whatever in these clothes."

"Your choice. Don't blame me if those clothes get torn to shreds." Logan himself went into the changing room. He came out in his official orange uniform and led Max into the outer part of the Danger Room where the rest of the New Mutants were gathered. These included Amara, Jubilee, Bobby, Jamie, Alex, Rahne and Ray."Okay. Max will be joining us for this session. You'll be divided into four teams of two. Your objective is to get the flag. First team to do so, wins. This team gets eliminated and the other three have to try again. Last team remaining gets an extra session with me." Logan dispensed the information and pushed them through the pneumatic doors. "Amara and Bobby, you're one team. Jamie and Jubilee, Ray and Alex. Rahne, you and Max."

What had seemed like an empty room transformed the minute they entered. It took a while for Max to get his bearings and realise what was happening. The other teams had already started climbing up the hill that appeared. Rahne pulled his arm and dragged him along. She transformed into her wolf form and barked at him to follow. Concentrating with all his might, Max brought all his abilities to life. His body, red now, was pumped and ready for action. Rahne bounded easily up the slopes and he followed. They soon caught up to the rest of the teams. A quarter of the way there, machine guns popped up from the ground and started to open fire lasers at them. Bobby got caught in the leg but Amara disabled it with one quick magma burst. Jubilee took out the ones for her team and Alex did the same for his. Rahne ran along, pulling wires with her teeth and Max punched one out himself. As they climbed up, the red flag could be seen, guarded by a number of hooded ninja-like men. What happened next was an all-out brawl. Max was a good fighter but by the time he dispatched the three ninjas, Alex had already claimed the flag.

Alex and Ray journeyed back while the rest continued to climb upwards. Max didn't exactly comprehend what was happening but his mind was made up not to lose. This time around, Scott and Jean appeared at the top, attacking them. Scott fired blasts from his eyes and dislodged rocks meant to bar the way. Jean literally picked people up with her mind and dropped them away. Max put his body into hyperdrive and motioned to Rahne to follow him. His body was a blur as he ran, almost as fast as Quicksilver. The rocks weren't easy to dodge but he managed. He reached Scott and aimed one well rounded kick into his stomach. With an "oof", Scott collapsed to the ground. As he ran for Jean, she picked him up. He tried to run but with no ground to run on, he was stuck. Suddenly, Rahne struck Jean from the side, bowling her over and breaking her hold. Rahne and Jean struggled and Max tried to maximize the situation but again was outsmarted by Amara, who claimed the flag.

Now, only Jamie and Jubilee and they were left. Rahne barked furiously at him as she bounded up again. He ran for it. Long tentacle like things snaked out the ground and grabbed hold of Jamie. Jubilee hit it with a few of her blasts. Rahne was also caught so he ran off to help. Grabbing hold of it, he easily broke the tentacle apart revealing wires and circuits. Jamie had somehow freed himself and now there were ten Jamie's running for the flag. Determined not to lose, Max sped up. Without warning, Kurt appeared in front of him, grabbed a hold of him and teleported him to the base. Furious, Max took a swing at him but Kurt vanished with a smirk and a "blamf". A second later, Jubilee appeared next to him, brought down the same way. He tried to run for it again but realized it was useless when he saw one Jamie waving the flag and nine others subduing Rahne. He had lost. He changed back to normal, shoulders drooping in defeat.

The scene disappeared and all of them trudged back out the door. Max's body was bruised and sore. He felt tired and crappy. How the hell did these X-men do this every day? These sessions were murder. An unhappy Rahne looked sadly at him. Max smiled and rubbed her shoulder. He liked her.

"Well, well well. Looks like you lost. Let's get back in there, bubs." Logan said gleefully to Max and Rahne.

"Okay Logan, you and me, leave Rahne behind. Another time for her okay?" He tried to get her off the hook.

Logan thought for a moment about it and then scratched his chin. "Okay. Kid, go get washed up with the others. I'll take care of your friend."

Logan and Max went back into the Danger Room but this time the scenario didn't change. "Bub, the deal is, we fight. No fancy tricks, no lights, no flashes. Plain fight but clean, no dirty fighting. One wins when the other cries uncle. Okay? Go." He didn't give Max a chance to respond. He lunged at him. Max sidestepped Logan and took a second to change. He was tired but the change fired him up. Logan lunged again and this time, Max planted a foot into his abdomen. Wolverine rolled back and landed on his feet. Unleashing his claws, he bared his teeth. Now it was Max's turn to attack. Using his speed, he circled Logan and attacked from the side. Wolverine grabbed Max's outstretched leg and flipped him over. Max turned and landed on his feet too. This continued back and forth for some time. Both of them tossing and turning. Wolverine was more experienced and just too good of a fighter. Max had power, razor reflexes and speed and made use of them very effectively. In the end, Wolverine's experience won. Max was beginning to tire and Logan took advantage and had him in a head lock with his adamantium claws inches from his face. "Uncle" Max said weakly and Logan released him.

In the changing room, Max stripped out of his clothes and wrapped a towel around himself. He followed Wolverine as he directed him to the bathroom. The turned on the steaming water and let it soothe his body. Two hardcore beatings within 5 days was more than enough. He wondered how these people did it. Logan was one tough bastard and drove them harder than anything. Max was beginning to find new respect for the X-men.


End file.
